Age-old excuse doesn't justify Trump campaign's data theft

But everyone does it, don’t they? 

No.  Not everyone does it.  And if they did, it is not an excuse to do it yourself. 

My wife and I recently babysat two of our adorable grandchildren.  I can not tell you how many times we heard that they should do this or that because their friends had permission.  I also can not tell you how many times we explained that doing something about which we did not approve is not somehow better because others get away with it.  

Then again, my mother was driving west on Lincoln Way East in Chambersburg when she made a left turn onto Coldbrook Avenue.  She was immediately pulled over by a Pennsylvania State policeman.  The trooper had observed her turning left across oncoming traffic when the left turn signal was red. 

This was in her older years.  And the policeman, according to my mother, was a very nice young man, both polite and handsome.  He asked her if she had seen the light.  And, of course, my mother said yes that she had.  He asked her whether she had noticed that the light was red when she went through it.  And, of course, again my mother said yes that she had seen that the light was red.   He asked her why she had then driven through the light when it was red. 

Her answer was not that she was sorry or that the sun was in her eyes or that she was distracted in some way.  Her answer was that others do it all the time, so why shouldn’t she?  According to my mother, the policeman could not come up with a good response, so he just wrote her up and gave her a ticket.  She did say that he wished her a nice day. 

For the record, my mother is now 100 years old and is no longer driving. 

However, her logic is not dissimilar from the logic and argument that some of my friends use when discussing the illicit actions of one politician or another when the politician is caught with his or her hands in the cookie jar. 

The idea is that because the other side does it all the time, it is OK for my side to do it too.  I mean Trump is not doing anything different from what the Clintons or the Obamas did. 

That is a bogus argument. 

If a person goes through a red light, then, that person should get a ticket.  If others go through the red light, then they too should be ticketed, not let off the hook because someone else got away with it. 

Here is another example.  Ten people rob a bank.  Only one gets caught.  Should the one that got caught be exonerated because the other nine weren’t caught?  

And that brings us to the recent saga regarding Strategic Communication Laboratories and its political data analytics arm, Cambridge Analytica. 

As background, Cambridge Analytica is a political research operation linked to Donald Trump and Steve Bannon.  Cambridge Analytica obtained personal data whenever Facebook users downloaded an app developed by Cambridge Analytica associate, Aleksandr Kogan, called “thisisyourdigitallife.”  The app promised predictions based on psychological profiles.  However, unbeknownst to users the app was designed to mine personal information from Facebook accounts (yours and mine) for Trump’s political purposes. 

This violates Facebook policies protecting user privacy. 

This Trump-affiliated group allegedly schemed to mislead Facebook to gain access to 270,000 Facebook users and their friends.  In the end Cambridge Analytica may have obtained personal information regarding 50 million Facebook users.  Kogan turned over the data mined from personal accounts to Cambridge Analytica for its political use in support of Trump.

Once discovered Facebook suspended access by Cambridge Analytica. 

So why does this matter? 

Other than the Trump organization may know more information about you than you wish them to know.  Including whether you support Trump or not. 

Other than the operation may have obtained your personal information and mine. 

The Trump presidential campaign paid millions of dollars to Cambridge Analytica for this information.  The secret operation was funded by Trump billionaire donor Robert Mercer and was driven by Steve Bannon and Donald Trump.

The Washington Post reported that one of the Cambridge Analytica founders, Christopher Wylie, said that Cambridge Analytica “built models to exploit what we knew” about Facebook users to “target their [yours and mine] inner demons.”

Cambridge Analytica with Trump support carries out political, governmental and military investigations and campaigns around the world.  And now it may be doing so on American soil.  In fact Special Counsel Robert Mueller in December apparently called for documents from Cambridge Analytica as part of his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. 

Some people have complained that Facebook should have done a better job of protecting personal data from the clutches of Cambridge Analytica.  But doesn’t that skirt the bigger issue? 

If Aleksandr Kogan had not been paid by Cambridge Analytica, he would not have developed the app and made it available on Facebook. 

If Cambridge Analytica were not a part of Strategic Communication Laboratories, they would not have had the funding. 

If Donald Trump and Steve Bannon had not wanted the information to target voters, Trump billionaire donor Robert Mercer would not have funded the entire effort.  And Trump and company would not be using your and my private information for their own personal and political gain. 

Bad behavior by others is no excuse for bad behavior.  

Bill Gindlesperger is a central Pennsylvanian, Shippensburg University trustee and founder of eLynxx Solutions that provides software for managing direct mail, marketing and print.  He is a board member, campaign adviser, published author, and News Talk 103.7 commentator.  He can be reached at Bill.Gindlesperger@eLynxx.com